Jai Opetaia predicts he’ll “damage” David Nyika and “put him to sleep” on Wednesday night time of their headliner on the Gold Coast Conference Centre, Broadbeach, Australia.
Opetaia’s Anger
IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) went from 1 to 10 on the anger scale when speaking in regards to the challenger Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) having the nerve to say he wished a “dogfight” on Wednesday. I don’t know why it bothers Opetaia a lot that Nyika believes he’s going to win. The one conclusion I can come to is he’s insecure.
Opetaia obtained wild-eyed and seemed like his blood strain was boiling. In the event that they’d put a BP cuff on him, I’d count on it to be 180/120 within the hazard degree. You can inform he’s not used to his opponents desirous to go to warfare with him.
Most of them are so scared, however not Nyika. He’s noticed a weak spot in Opetaia, and he has the ability, ring IQ, and 6’6″ measurement to benefit from.
Opetaia vs. Nyika will likely be proven reside on DAZN this Wednesday, January eighth. This will likely be Jai’s fourth protection of the IBF cruiserweight title he gained in 2022.
“Two years in the past, I didn’t have a cracker, and now I’m packing stadiums. It’s loopy the journey I’ve been on,” mentioned Jai Opetaia to The Stomping Floor, speaking about how shortly he’s turn out to be standard.
“We simply hold pushing ahead. We don’t look again. Any of those guys making an attempt to take us from the highest, we now have to place them of their spot, and that’s what I wish to do,” Opetaia continued. “I simply wish to battle. Knock me out. It’ll be one of the best sleep I’ve had in years since my surgical procedures,” mentioned Jai about Nyika utilizing post-it notes, speaking about his aim of knocking him out.
“I’m anticipating a tough battle. He’s a very good, artistic fighter, and he’s good in that ring. He retains speaking about wanting a canine battle. Let’s have it, however he is aware of. He’s going to need to battle good. He doesn’t wish to get hit. No matter he comes out with, that’s what we now have to adapt to,” mentioned Opetaia.
It may very well be a tougher battle than Jai expects, and he’s going to need to be 100% prepared. Nyika has a blueprint to comply with by utilizing the strain techniques and energy punching that Mairis Briedis efficiently utilized to present Opetaia pure hell of their rematch final 12 months on Might 18th. Jai in all probability prefers to overlook about that battle, however Nyika. He’s utilizing it for examine functions and can look to duplicate & enhance on the success that the Latvian had.
The “Sleep” Assure
“He’s a tall orthodox. He’s obtained a bizarre type about him, however he makes use of it properly. We will clip him. I can f**** damage this dude. He retains speaking a couple of canine battle, but when I hit this dude, he’s going to sleep, I assure it. So, how a lot of a canine battle does he wish to have?” mentioned Opetaia.
Nyika may shock Opetaia along with his energy and the canine that he has in him as a result of he’s coming to show this battle right into a full-scale warfare on Wednesday night time. Opetaia is a much bigger model of Dmitry Bivol, and he doesn’t prefer it when he’s obtained somebody who’s throwing hearth again at him. He’s high-quality when he’s the one unloading along with his bombs, however as quickly as he will get again, he goes into his Bivol mode.
You’ll be able to inform that Jai admires the previous WBA 175-lb champion Bivol, however his preventing type may be very comparable when he’s underneath assault. Aside from that, Opetaia is a distinct fighter as a result of he’s not a mixture puncher like him. He focuses totally on loading up on left fingers.
We noticed that work properly for Jai in his current fights in opposition to Jack Massey, Ellis Zorro and Jordan Thompson. None of these guys are first-tier fighters within the true sense, which is why Opetaia dominated them along with his left hand alone.
The place he couldn’t recover from it was in his two fights with Mairis Briedis. He was getting lit up by the previous champion and took loads of punishment to his face. Within the final battle, he didn’t look recognizable as a result of Briedis hit him with some photographs that turned him right into a Halloween masks.
